Greetings

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Learn how to say hello, how are you, and good-bye in English. Click on each link to hear that word or phrase pronounced.

 

Greetings
hello   The most common greeting, used when meeting someone for the first time that day.
good morning Used only in the morning (before noon).
good afternoon This greeting is used between noon and 5pm.
good evening This greeting is used after 5pm.
hi Informal greeting.
hey Informal greeting between friends.
 
After the greeting
How are you?   After you greet someone, it is customary to ask "how are you?" In English, this is just a polite question; you should not respond with a lot of detail.

How’s it going? This is an informal way to ask "how are you?"
How are you doing? This is an informal way to ask "how are you?"
 
Reponses
fine   This is the most common way to respond to "how are you?"
good Another common way to respond.
not so good If you do not feel well or have other problems, you can respond with this.
so so / OK The meaning of these somewhat informal responses is in between "fine" and "not so good."
 
Informal
What’s up? /
What’s new?
  These are very informal ways of asking "how are you?"
nothing /
nothing much
These responses can only be used to answer "what’s up?" and "what’s new?"
 
Departing
good-bye   This is what you say when you leave.
good night This means "good-bye" but is used only at night (after 7pm).
bye An informal way to say "good-bye."
see you later /
see you soon
Other informal ways to say "good-bye" used when you are likely to see the person again later that day, or when you have plans to see each other again.

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